IDWBE -Chapter 185 Heat

Hot.

Lin Yi finally got a sauna without spending a coin.

Just drinking tea and fanning himself no longer eased the urge to do something completely reckless—like changing his hairstyle in defiance of all convention.

Go cool off in the mountain streams?

With the sun this fierce, stepping outside for half an hour meant sweating for hours.

Might as well just lie under the shade of a tree and leave life and death to fate.

“Stop fanning me,” Lin Yi waved at Mingyue and Zixia behind him. “You’ve worked hard enough, no need. Stop.”

“Your Highness, we’re not tired,” Mingyue said, fanning without pause. “They say a calm mind brings coolness. Would you like to try?”

“I’m too hot to be calm.”

Lin Yi sighed.

Zixia suggested, “Your Highness, why not go to the mountains in a sedan chair?”

Lin Yi replied, “No, that’s not enough of a challenge. I’ll stay at home. I told you to stop fanning—don’t make me repeat myself. Talking nonsense is exhausting.”

“Yes.”

Mingyue and Zixia finally stopped, standing behind him, unsure of what else to do.

“Go down. You still have school in the afternoon.”

Lin Yi closed his eyes, occasionally sipping water.

Xiao Xizi couldn’t help but say, “Your Highness, you could build a house in the mountains—perfect for escaping the summer heat.”

“Ah, you’re clever,”

Mingyue’s eyes lit up. “That’s a good idea.”

“During the day, fine. But at night, feeding mosquitoes?”

Lin Yi immediately rejected the idea.

Northern mosquitoes were tolerable, but southern mosquitoes were massive and painful. Going up the mountain would mean entering a mosquito nest.

Sleep under a mosquito net? Use it in the bathroom too?

He truly admired those tribespeople—how did they survive up there?

Zixia suggested, “Your Highness, we could go during the day and return at night.”

Lin Yi considered. “That wouldn’t be impossible.”

Xiao Xizi said, “I’ll handle it right away.”

“Wait,” Lin Yi called him back. “Just build a simple hut with a stove. Don’t make it too complicated. Money must be saved.”

With a stove, water could be boiled anytime for tea.

Xiao Xizi smiled and withdrew.

Later that evening, Lin Yi received word that several soldiers training under the scorching sun had suffered heatstroke—seven or eight in total.

All he could do was sympathize.

Stopping was out of the question; this was their blessing.

If you don’t strive in youth, will you wait until old age?

Besides, the real villains were He Jixiang and Shen Chu.

He and the prince remained benevolent, wise, and martial.

None of his concern.

That evening, Shi Quan, who rarely visited, arrived.

“Please come in.”

Lin Yi, bare-chested, welcomed him.

He greatly admired Shi Quan’s calligraphy and now practiced it whenever idle.

The two went into the bedroom. Mingyue ground ink and spread paper.

Lin Yi waved the brush and finished quickly.

“Please correct me, Mr. Shi.”

“‘Raise the brush, clouds and winds swirl; sweep the sleeves, heaven and earth open.’”

Shi Quan praised, “Your Highness is truly talented in poetry!”

The more he interacted with the prince, the more he admired him—completely unlike the rumored “uneducated” image. Especially when the prince was serious.

“I asked about your calligraphy, not poetry!”

Lin Yi rolled his eyes at him.

Shi Quan examined carefully and said with a faint smile, “Your Highness’s writing is neat, spacing well distributed, proportions balanced, vertically and horizontally appropriate, naturally steady.”

“Ha, still not good enough.”

Lin Yi sighed.

It was like complimenting someone’s elegance—polite, but faint praise.

Shi Quan lowered his head, silent.

If his own students wrote like this, even without beating them, he would expel them immediately.

Lin Yi continued meticulously, stroke by stroke, hoping to improve over time.

After Shi Quan left, he practiced for another half hour.

Stepping outside, he saw that night had fallen.

Standing in the courtyard, he noticed a blaze on the west bank of the river.

“Another fire?”

Lin Yi was at a loss.

In just a few years in Sanhe, he had encountered countless such disasters.

Mingyue said, “Someone reported it earlier, but seeing Your Highness practicing calligraphy, I didn’t want to disturb you. The fireworks workshop on the south bank exploded. The brothers must have added something to the gunpowder. The workshop was destroyed, and two apprentices died.”

Lin Yi said, “Too lazy to deal with it. Let them handle their own mess.”

When the meal was served, he ate quietly, ignoring everything else.

Mingyue said, “Your Highness, the teaching materials are finished. Should we build a middle school?”

“Finished learning?”

Lin Yi was surprised. They had worked hard—completing five years of elementary school content in less than three years.

“Yes,” Mingyue smiled. “I tested them. Most passed.”

“What about chemistry and natural philosophy?”

Lin Yi had stuffed middle school physics and chemistry into elementary students.

Mingyue nodded. “Many even scored full marks.”

Lin Yi laughed, “Let them enjoy summer vacation until the middle school building is ready.”

That night, Lin Yi resumed work.

He began writing official teaching materials—labeled for middle school but actually covering high school content.

He only finished a few chapters of math that night.

Counting physics and chemistry, it would take no more than ten to fifteen days.

Fortunately, subjects like language and history didn’t require his attention.

Those would naturally be handled by Xie Zan and the other old teachers.

At night, the wind suddenly picked up, followed by loud thunder.

Lin Yi stopped writing, stood by the window, and finally felt relief from the heat.

He pulled out a bottle of wine. When Mingyue brought some side dishes, he drank alone.

By the time the rain fell, he was already asleep in his chair.

Mingyue and Zixia carefully moved him to bed.

The rain continued into the morning, growing heavier.

The Baiyun Temple gates were deserted; no worshippers in sight.

Sun Xing stood at the door, sighing. Looking at Wang Dong, he said, “Disciple, there’s no way to go out today.”

“I wasn’t planning to,” Wang Dong smiled.

Sun Xing said, “Disciple, that’s wrong. You can’t stay in just because it rains. We must fish and dry nets, or we’ll starve. And you still won’t be able to marry the mistress. We must keep working hard.”

“Yes, Master,” Wang Dong smiled. “I understand my mistake.”

Sun Xing nodded in satisfaction. “Yu Sanshui said he’d sue, but no news yet. Their tea house business is booming, but as a wealthy family, it’s a shame not to squeeze money from him.”